Nacimiento River
| Nacimiento River | |
| Rio de las Truchas | |
 The river downstream of Nacimiento Dam
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| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| State | California |
| Tributaries | |
| - right | Los Burros Creek, Las Tablas Creek |
| Source | Unnamed spring |
| - location | Santa Lucia Mountains, San Luis Obispo County |
| - elevation | 3,280 ft (1,000 m) |
| - coordinates | 36°01′55″N 121°28′21″W / 36.03194°N 121.47250°W |
| Mouth | Salinas River |
| - location | Camp Roberts, Monterey County |
| - elevation | 584 ft (178 m) |
| - coordinates | 35°49′57″N 120°45′30″W / 35.83250°N 120.75833°WCoordinates: 35°49′57″N 120°45′30″W / 35.83250°N 120.75833°W |
| Length | 64.8 mi (104 km) |
| Basin | 350 sq mi (906 km2) |
| Discharge | for below Nacimiento Dam |
| - average | 272 cu ft/s (8 m3/s) |
| - max | 7,340 cu ft/s (208 m3/s) |
| - min | 0 cu ft/s (0 m3/s) |
 Map of the Salinas River watershed including the Nacimiento River
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The Nacimiento River is a 64.8-mile-long (104.3 km)river in southern Monterey County and northern San Luis Obispo County, California. A large portion of the river's run is on military reservations. The river's upper reaches are inside Fort Hunter Liggett, Lake Nacimiento is in the middle and the lower reaches are inside Camp Roberts. It is the largest tributary of the Salinas River in terms of streamflow.
On September 24 and December 17, 1769, the Portolà expedition crossed the river which they named Rio de las Truchas (Spanish for "trout"), saying "We pitched camp on the bank of a small river containing much running water, which, in several pools or eddies, held a considerable number of trout, and other species of fish."Nacimiento, meaning "source of the river" in Spanish, was also given to the river by Father Crespi of the Portolà expedition September 21, 1769. Later the river was referred to as Nacimiento by Juan Bautista de Anza who on April 16, 1774, crossed the river and assumed wrongly that Nacimiento had been named for the nativity, also a Spanish translation.
The Nacimiento River watershed comprises 361.5 square miles (936 km2). The crest of the Santa Lucia Range forms the southwestern boundary of the Nacimiento River watershed, and the San Antonio River watershed divide forms its northeast boundary. Rising on the east side of the Santa Lucia Mountains, part of the Coast Ranges, the river travels southeast from its headwaters south of Cone Peak, also within the Ventana Wilderness of Los Padres National Forest. Except for its uppermost reaches and headwaters, as well as the short stretch below Nacimiento Dam, much of the river is dry in summer and fall, although perennial pools abound.
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Wikipedia